Guard-rail clamp.



No. 890,384. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.'

'0. SWITZER & F. SUNDMAN.

GUARD RAIL CLAMP. APPLICATION FILED 113.28, 1907.

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CHRISTOPHER SWITZER AND FREDRECK SUNDMAN, OF DOE RUN, MISSOURI.

GUARD-RAILECLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Application filed February 28, 1907. Serial No. 359,801.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHRISTOPHER Swir- ZER and FREnREoK SUNDMAN,citizens of the United States, residing at Doe Run, in the county of St.Francois and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Guard-Rail Clamp, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in guard rail clamps.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofguard rail clamps, and to increase their strength, durability andefliciency, and to provide simple and inexpensive means for securelylooking a guard rail in position to prevent the same from either liftingup or rolling outward,

7 whereby the percentage of wrecks resulting from inefficient guardrails will be reduced to a minimum.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope ofthe claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing :Figure 1.is a plan view of a guard rail clamp,constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a centraltransverse sectional view. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of theguard rail brace. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the transverseclamping member. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the key.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawmg.

1 designates a transversely disposed clamping member, located beneathand extending across a main rail 2 and a guard rail 3, and fittingagainst the lower faces of the bottom flanges thereof, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The transversely disposedclamping member consists of a plate or body provided at one end with ajaw 4, and having an upwardlyprojecting lip 5 at the other end.

The plate or body of the clamping member is provided at opposite sideswith depending flanges 6 to secure the requisite strength with a minimumamount of material. The jaw 4,

which is inclined, extends upwardly and inwardly and engages the bottomflange of the main rail and is preferably reinforced by exterior endribs 7, arranged in the same plane as and forming continuations of thedepending side flanges 6.

The jaw extends entirely across the end of the clamping member, and itsinner engaging face conforms to the configuration of the bottom flangeof the main rail, which is wedged in the recess between the j aw 4 andthe upper face of the body portion of the clamping member. The lip 5,which also extends across the end of the clamping member, is providedwith a vertical inner face or edge for engaging a guard rail brace 8.The guard rail brace S, which is of a length to extend across the spaceof two cross ties 9, consists of a base plate and a plurality ofupwardly extending transversely disposed approximately triangular wings9 which are located at the outer face of the guard rail, and whichengage the same at the web and head thereof, suitable recesses 10 beingprovided for the reception ofthe lower outer portion of the head of therail, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The innerportion of the base plate of the brace'has an inclined lower face 1 1 tofit against and engage the bottom flange of the guard rail, and theguard rail brace is securely held in position by means of spikes 12 anda key 13, which passes through an opening 14 of a depending shank 15 ofthe guard rail brace.

The guard rail brace is provided at its center with the depending shank15, which has straight side edges and which extends through a slot 16 ofthe transversely disposed clamping member 1. The clamping member 1 isalso provided with a similar slot 17, which receives a shank 18 of acentral rail-engaging device 19, consisting of the said shank 18 and ahead, which is interposed between the web portions of the guard and mainrails and which engages the bottom flanges thereof, as

clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The head of the rail-engagingdevice extends to the web of the guard rail, which is provided at itsbottom flange with a recess 3 to receive the shank of the intermediateclamping device. The key 13, which is tapered, is substantially of thesame length as the transversely disposed clamping member, and it passesthrough the o ening 14 of the shank 15 and through a sim' ar opening 20of the shank 18. The small end of the wedge-shaped key is splitlongitudinally at 21, and the sides of the split portion are adapted tobe spread to retain the key in position. The spikes 12, which pierce theinner and outerportions of the guard rail brace, are embedded in thecross ties in the usual manner, and the inner spikes are located at thebottom flanges of the guard rail, and are adapted to firmly hold thesame to the cross ties.

It will be seen that the guard rail clamp is light, strong and durable,and that it is ca pable of effectually preventing the guard rail fromlifting up and rolling outward. The parts of the guard rail clamp may beconstructed of any desired size to suit the various sizes of the rails,and they may be made of any preferred material.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the class described comprising a guard rail engagingbrace having a depending shank, a transversely disposed clamping memberprovided with an opening through which the shank passes, said clampingmember being also provided at one end with means for engaging the mainrail, and a locking device piercing the shank and engaging the clampingmember for retaining the same in engagement with the guard rail.

2. A device of the class described comprising a guard rail engagingbrace having a depending shank, a transversely disposed clamping memberprovided with an opening through which the shank passes, said clampingmember being provided at one end with means for engaging the main railand having a projecting portion at the other end for engaging the saidbrace, and a locking device piercing the shank and engaging the clampingmember for retaining the same in engagement with the guard rail brace.

3. A device of the class described comprising a guard rail brace havinga depending shank, an intermediate rail-engaging member also providedwith a depending shank, a transversely disposed clamping member providedat one end with a rail-engaging jaw to receive the main rail and havingan upwardly extending lip at the other end for engaging the guard railbrace, and a keypiercing the said shank and extending along the lowerface of the clamping member.

4. A device of the class described comprising a guard rail braceconsisting of a base plate arranged to be supported by the cross tiesand having an inner engaging portion arranged to fit over and engage thebottom flange of a guard rail, and a plurality of upwardly projectingwings arranged to engage the guard rail at the side thereof, said bracebeing provided with a depending shank, a transversely disposed clampingmember provided at one end with means for engaging the guard rail braceand having means at the other end for engaging a main rail, a centralVrail-engaging device for engaging both the main and guard rails andprovided with a de pending shank, and means for connecting the dependingshanks of the guard rail brace and the central rail-engaging device tothe clamping member.

5. A device of the class described comprising a guard rail braceconsisting of a base plate arranged to be supported by the cross tiesand having an inner engaging portion arranged to fit over and engage thebottom.

flange of a guard rail, and a plurality of up wardly projecting wingsarranged to engage the guard rail at the side thereof, said brace beingprovided with a depending shank, a transversely disposed clamping memberprovided at one end with means for engaging the guard rail brace andhaving means at the other endfor engaging a main rail, said mem berhaving an opening through Which the said shank passes, and means forconnecting the said shank to the said member.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTOPHER SWITZER. FREDRECK SUNDMAN.

VVitnesses W. J. MARsI-IALL, MINNIE SOHAFER.

